Tony Law: A Law Undo His-elf What Welcome at the Assembly Hall

Bounding onto the stage enthusiastically twirling a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon while severely impeded by gaffer tape wrapped tightly around the midriff of his short-legged khaki boiler suit, Tony Law is a vision that has his audience in hysterics from the outset.

After famously scooping the Chortle Award for “breakthrough act” at the 2012 festival – at which point he was in fact already a veteran of 14 years standing – Law now finds himself among the top tier of stand-ups: those whose Fringe shows are keenly anticipated. The Canadian exudes confidence in his ability to live up to expectations, freshly shorn of his trademark beard and “newly fat” (by his own admission, hence the DIY tummy-tuck). In fact he exceeds them.

In an hour-long set that flies by in joyful abandon, Law’s material spills forth with a deliriously manic comedy rhythm. Law casts his eye across subjects both traditionally favoured by stand-ups (living with a dog) and gloriously off-the-wall (the relative merits of the Citroën Xsara Picasso), following twisting, leaping narrative pathways. All the zany surrealism and hilariously left-field non-sequiturs one has come to expect are present and correct, yet perhaps more important than the material itself is the compellingly boundless madcap energy with which it’s delivered. Approximately 25% of the show is recounted with a southern drawl, with our star  in character as the renegade hero of the early 70s’ competitive trampoline circuit. Somehow, in the bonkers yet fully-formed world that Law conjures, this makes perfect sense.  

The Fringe is the galaxy at the centre of the stand-up comedy universe, and Tony Law is one of its brightest stars.

Stuart Boyland

Tony Law: A Law Undo His-elf What Welcome is on at the Assembly Hall from 4^th August to 28^th August 2016, for further information or to book visit here.

Watch a clip featuring Tony Law at Chortle’s Fast Fringe here: